2 – Krystian Bielik
Krystian Bielik signed for the Gunners in January 2015 for a reported fee of £2.4 million, there was a real optimism about the Polish youngster and his limitless potential to be a star for the future for Arsenal.
Bielik has only represented Arsenal’s first team once and that come against Sheffield Wednesday, Bielik made a brief appearance in their 3-0 loss in the Capital One Cup. Although the defeat was an embarrassment, Bielik was a brighter spark than the other young Gunners and showed immense composure on the ball, playing as a central defensive midfielder.
The most obvious thing about Bielik is his physical presence, standing at 6 ft. 2 his dominating stature gives him an advantage, especially when it comes to set plays.
Bielik isn’t a creator but is more of a dictator, although he is very young, something that stands out is his smart distribution and as mentioned his composure with and without the ball.
Bielik plays more defensively but something that is quite surprising is his odd surging run into the box from deep which maybe you wouldn’t expect from someone so comfortable sitting deep, this is more of a bonus to his game though and is something that will please Wenger.
The versatile youngster has been a massive star for Arsenal’s academy and has played in two different positions, predominantly a Central defensive midfielder but learning his trade playing Center Back for the U21’s, but Wenger is said to see his long-term future in the midfield and less so in defence.
That said, he is more likely to get playing time with the first team playing in the back four, Per Mertesacker is coming of age and is showing that in performances whilst Gabriel hasn’t hit the heights required, Bielik, who has been training with the first team ahead of the new season will fancy his chances if given a chance by the boss to make a name for himself and give Wenger a real headache.
Wenger is in the market for a defender this summer but may look to an internal solution, Bielik looks set to be the long-term successor for Mertesacker, but that said he could also partner Calum Chambers in the long run as Arsenal look ahead to an exciting future.